Master Class 4: Business Opportunities with Water Productivity in Africa

31 October 2017 @ Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam

On the 31st of October a master class hosted by SWA Consortium and 25% WP Alliance took place in Amsterdam on the topic of making making business work for water productivity in Africa. The African food market continues to grow with World Bank estimates showing that it will be worth US$1 trillion by 2030 up from the current US$300 billion. Demand for food is also projected to at least double by 2050. These trends, combined with the continent’s food import bill, estimated at a staggering US$30–50 billion, indicate that an opportunity exists for smallholder farmers—Africa’s largest entrepreneurs by numbers—who already produce 80% of the food we eat to finally transition their enterprises into thriving businesses.

Agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa is in fact changing rapidly. The competition with other livelihood pursuits means that agriculture needs to be time-efficient and high yielding, even when land holdings are still small. Working on improved Water Productivity may go a long way in keeping farming attractive for young people and for women. We need innovative solutions related to irrigation, soil improvement, ICT and other areas to increase crop production.

Together with SNV, MetaMeta, KIT and Practica, Aqua for All supports a program, funded by the Dutch government to increase productivity of 20,000 small holder farmers in Kenya. Beside support for individual companies to enter the market we also work on improving the ecosystem engaging with local funders, small holder farmer groups and government to boost the sector. This Masterclass on Water Productivity discusses the business opportunities in the transformation of smallholder agriculture in Africa, with a focus on Kenya. It presents result and business opportunities in the Smart Water Agriculture Project. The Smart Water program offers technical expertise, access to customers and high risk funding to boost market uptake of innovative solutions.